Faumuina Fong is a nice change

The Member of Parliament for Urban West, Faumuina Wayne Fong, appears to me to be a new MP who wants to make a change for the betterment of Samoa.

After reading MP Faumuina’s view on what he believes needs to be done in regards to street vendors, it was obvious that this long overdue issue needed addressing and needed to be fixed.

It’s about time Samoa has a M.P. from H.R.P.P that is honest with his opinion – he’s a rare breed of MP from this government and let’s hope a few more have the courage and the guts to follow suit.

This is exactly the type of MP Samoa needs more of today – honest in his opinion and views about the social problems Samoa is facing on a daily basis.

It shows he cares enough about the people of this nation and he’s listening to them too.

This street vendor problem started under PM Tuilaepa’s leadership and H.R.P.P and it has been in Samoa for tens of years but it’s getting worse. Every time an MP comments about it, it’s either they politicize the problem or intellectualize this problem but they never addressed the actual problem in order to find a solution for it.

It’s not hard to solve this street vendor problem.

The government, the Police, the Education Dept., Samoa Tourism Authority (S.T.A) and the parents of these street vendors need to sit down together and discuss the law and remind themselves what their collective responsibilities are when it comes to street vendors.

BEFORE THEY GO PASSING LAWS, THE GOVT NEED TO INVESTIGATE THE WHOLESALERS AND RETAILERS WHO ARE ‘BEHIND THE SCENES’ AND ARE EXPLOITING THESE STREET VENDORS BY ‘EMPLOYING’ THEM AND SUPPLYING THE GOODS TO THE STREET VENDORS TO SELL AND ISSUE THEM WITH HEFTY FINES.

The revenue raised from these fines should go straight to charity or a Non government Organization to help the victims of abuse.

But for now, THE GOVT NEED TO ISSUE A CURFEW FOR THESE YOUNG PEOPLE TO BE OFF THE STREETS BY 9:00 PM and NO ONE UNDER THE AGE OF 16 SHOULD BE ROAMING OR LOITERING AROUND TOWN ON THEIR OWN AFTER 9:00 PM UNLESS THEY ARE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT.

When this issue was discussed a couple of years ago, PM Tuilaepa and his H.R.P.P said they already had existing laws to regulate street vendors and he had already advised the Police and the Education Department to remove vendors from the streets during school hours and late at night.

This was just before the S.I.D.S was held here. Now the Acting Police Commissioner has admitted that there are no such laws and his admission contradicted what PM Tuilaepa said back then!

That too has confirmed what I’ve been saying all along that PM Tuilaepa suffers from amnesia and Alzeihmers and he needs to see a psychiatrist – I’m not joking.